Blog

Friendly

Real Salt Lake will host 2014 USL PRO Champions Sacramento Republic FC tonight at Rio Tinto Stadium at 7:30 p.m. MT. The exhibition match will be streamed live on RealSaltLake.com with Bill Riley and Brian Dunseth with the call.

In anticipation of tonight's match, check out the highlights above from Sacramento’s 2-0 win over Harrisburg City Islanders last weekend that gave them the USL PRO Championship in the club’s inaugural season. The team is coached by MLS two-time scoring champion and former Chivas USA and Toronto FC head coach, Preki Radosavljević. The club’s roster also includes former Real Salt Lake forward Justin Braun.

Check out Fox 13’s fantastic live shot from Tuesday’s friendly v. Club Tijuana that managed to capture RSL MF Luis Gil’s 88th minute golazo as it happened. The shot also offers a great angle of the goal, showing how sublime Gil’s touch was to set himself up for the half-volley. Watch below:

Plays two tournaments per year: Apertura (Summer-Fall) and Clausura (Winter-Spring)

Located about 10 minutes south of the USA-Mexico border, Club Tijuana is a young Liga MX club on the rise having survived three years in top flight since their promotion in 2011. Proximity to the world's busiest border gives them an edge, allowing them to market their club easily to United States soccer fans and grants more convenient access to a wide market of youth soccer talent in southern California. The Xolos currently field the most Mexican-American talent within all of Liga MX, with eight U.S. National Team players across their first team and U-20 squads -- Joe Corona, Greg Garza, Paul Arriola, Alejandro Guido, John Requejo Jr., Amando Moreno, Fernando Arce Jr., and Anthony Rodriguez.

The game against Real Salt Lake could see a mix of regular starters and younger players, as Xolos are preparing for their week five game of the Apertura against Chiapas on Friday at Estadio Caliente.

The Manager:

Head coach Cesar Farias has been with the club since early 2014, formerly managing both the first team and U-20 national team squads in Venezuela. He is the first and only manager to have led Venezuela's national team to the semifinals of Copa America in 2011, after qualifying the U-20's for the first time in history to the U-20 World Cup in 2009. He managed the national team from 2007-2013, and joined Club Tijuana this year for his first-ever managerial job in Mexico.

The Team:

The most familiar to RSL fans is Corona, who has played with Nick Rimando and Kyle Beckerman on the U.S. Men’s National Team. Corona scored Tijuana's important first goal in top flight and has continued to be an integral part of the Xolos midfield since before the team was promoted.

Tijuana's number one in goal is Cirilo Saucedo, who has been with the team since 2011 and has one cap for Mexico. His mother is a United States citizen and at one point the U.S. had been in touch with his agent about playing for the Americans. When Saucedo isn't starting, Xolos use their backup, Gibran Lajud, and also recently acquired Dilan Nicoletti, who won the U-17 World Cup with Mexico in 2011.

Tijuana's back line typically plays with a flat back four, and consists of Garza on the left, Argentine center backs Hernan Pellerano and Javier Gandolfi beside each other, and Isreal Jimenez on the right. Gandolfi wears the captain's armband for Xolos and Jimenez won an Olympic Gold medal with Mexico in the 2012 Olympics. Alternately, Farias could use a combination of players including Elio Castro, Alejando Molina, Juan Carlos Nunez, and Oliver Ortiz. Also, Requejo Jr. could come off the bench as an attacking sub if he travels with the team. The 18-year-old from California committed to UCLA before signing with Xolos in May, and is a very attack-minded left back player, similar to U.S. and former Xolos player Edgar Castillo.

Xolos have a lot of depth in midfield with Corona, having been around the longest, and he varies in starting and coming off the bench. Cristian Pellerano (older brother to Hernan) was the team's leading goal scorer in the 2014 Clausura with seven goals, and plays centrally -- usually between Richard Ruiz and Juan Arango. Ruiz is fast and technical and 34-year-old Arango played under Farias with Venezuela. Others who could likely see time at Rio Tinto Stadium are youngsters Edgar Villegas, Javier Salas, Arce Jr., and Guido. Javier Guemez is an undisputed starter for the first team in league play as a defensive midfielder, but it's uncertain whether Farias will rest him, among others, ahead of their game on Friday.

Up top, Xolos rely on Argentine-Italian Dario Benedetto, who was second in goal scoring last tournament with six goals. With the game coming up on Friday, however, Farias could elect to start Arriola in an attacking role with either Daryo or Alfredo Moreno - two players who made their returns to the club after stints elsewhere. Dayro is Colombian and Alfredo, a Mexican citizen, goes by the nickname "Chango." Another option up top as a starter is newcomer Henry Martin, who has two first team starts for the club already and scored a goal in Cup play for Xolos in Copa MX.

In what looks to be a decent MLS-Liga MX matchup, U.S. teammates will face each other and even Carlos Salcedo will go up against some familiar players from his days with Mexico's U-21's. The real battle could be in midfield, with Beckerman and Pellerano up against each other assuming Pellerano sees time. Corona, Ruiz, Villeagas, and Arango can cover a lot of space so either combination of players will contribute to the fast-paced aspect of this game. And in goal, Rimando and Saucedo are both excellent 'keepers -- it would be interesting to see how many saves each is forced to make with both sides possessing equal levels of talent in their attack.

Real Salt Lake announced late on Tuesday night that it will host Brigham Young University in a friendly match at Rio Tinto Stadium on Monday, April 1.

Claret-and-Cobalt Head Coach Jason Kreis talked on Wednesday about Monday's match, which will kickoff at 6:30 p.m. MT.

"We have annually enjoyed our games throughout the years with BYU, and are very excited to finally hold this fantastic Utah soccer event at our Rio Tinto Stadium home," Kreis said. "RSL looks forward to a competitive game against our state's best PDL side, and we look forward to welcoming fans from all over Utah for this unique event."

RSL will likely field a reserve lineup for the match, which will come just two days after Saturday's home match against Western Conference rival Seattle Sounders FC. Monday's game will be the second time in 2013 that the Claret-and-Cobalt's lesser-known players will play under the bright lights of Rio Tinto Stadium -- the RSL Reserves beat the Colorado Reserves 2-1 in Reserve League play at the RioT on March 16.